Data packet loss, in which a data packet intended for a receiving device fails to arrive, or arrives after a predetermined time period, can be caused by network congestion, wireless communication link interference, and a variety of other causes. To mitigate data packet loss, data packets can be repeatedly sent and re-sent, which increases packet reception at a cost of increasing network congestion. Retransmission request mechanisms can also be employed, which can also increase network congestion, owing to an increase in signaling associated with retransmission requests and subsequent packet retransmission. Further, network coding can be applied to mitigate packet loss, but the successful application of network coding is also affected by network congestion and packet loss, among other things.
Overview
In operation, first data packets for a wireless device are received from a data source at a network element, and the first data packets are encoded into at least one second data packet. The second data packet comprises at least two of the first data packets. At least one second data packet is then provided to an access node using a data redundancy factor. The data redundancy factor can be used to determine a number of the at least one second data packet encoded and sent to the access node. The at least one second data packet is then sent from the access node to the wireless device over a first frequency band. At the data source, a round trip time of the at least one of the first data packets is determined. Further, a frequency band load of the first frequency band is determined. Based on the round trip time and the frequency band load of the first frequency band, a handover can be performed of the wireless device from the first frequency band to a second frequency band of the access node. In an embodiment, based on the determined round trip time, the data redundancy factor can be adjusted, and the handover of the wireless device can be performed from the first frequency band to the second frequency band based on the round trip time, the frequency band load of the first frequency band, and the adjusted data redundancy factor.